National Reunification Month is celebrated annually in June. This effort “recognizes the people and ongoing efforts around the country that help families stay together. It is also a time to recommit to strengthening, improving, and increasing those efforts all year long” (Contreras, 2022). Reunification refers to the “processes that lead to reconnecting a child with their biological or primary caretakes” (Camelot, n.d.).
Reunification programs are programs that are designed to support children and birth families being reunified after there is child welfare involvement (CEBC, n.d.). Approximately half a million children in the United States are in foster care or other out-of-home placements (CEBC, n.d.). According to the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare, the case goal is reunification (returning children to their biological parents) as safely and quickly as possible for approximately 50% of the children in the U.S. in foster care out-of-home placements (n.d.).
Therefore, reunification is the most common goal after child welfare involvement. Child welfare agencies work to support reunification by implementing trauma-informed, family-centered approaches to build the strength of the family and engage parents, youth, and other family members (CWIG, n.d.). Reunification often requires “intensive, family-centered services, tailored to each family’s circumstances and addressing the issue(s) causing the child to enter foster care” (CEBC, n.d.).
Reunification Month is an important time to recognize the mission of reuniting families, which our Center supports by providing training for social workers. Some of our training offerings, especially “Engaging the Non-Resident Father for Child Welfare Staff,” work toward the goal of reunification and help equip social workers with the resources and knowledge they need to safely and effectively make decisions while working with families. To learn more about the Center for Family and Community Engagement’s training offerings, check out our website.
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